Baking oven



L A Y B R O c L R mms, 1930.'

2 Sheets-Sheet l ...n/HI- COND/W55@ IN V EN TOR.

' v @W ATTORNEYS.

Oct. 28,- 1930. R. L.. coRBY ET AL BAKING ovEN Filed Jan. 28. V1930 2Sheets-Sheet 2 n INVENTOR. 4%@ fo? a? v Y ATTORNEYS.

Patented oct. 2s, 1930 UNITED .STATES PATENT or-FlncE f noBEBT L connyam: GABE n. FENNEMn, or NEW roms, N, Y.

name ovni:v

Application mea January as, 1930. serial nb. 423,924.'

This invention relates to bakers ovens of the traveling type, and moreparticularly to bakers ovens of the type employing an endless conveyor lonto which the dough units may be continuously loaded and from which isto provide an oven so constructed that the baking conditionsthereimor indiierent zones thereof, maybe readily varied "in accordance with thenature of the dough-stuff being baked, and with the results desired,

A i without substantially disturbing the constant uniform temperature ofthe oven'or the ustatic condition of the gases.

` A further object is to provide an oven of the traveling-chain type, inwhich the load-` ing and unloading may be accomplished from one opening,said opening and associated parts being so positioned and constructed asto give maximum protection to,

'the operator from radiated heat.

Other objects o'f the invention will in part bfetobvious andwill in partappear hereina er,

The invention accordingly comprises .thel featureslof construction,combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will beexemplified in .the -construction herein after set forth, and the scopeof the application of which will be indicated in the For a fullerunderstanding ofthe nature and objects of the inventionl referenceshould f b e had to the following detailed description takeninconnection with ythe accompanying 5 drawings, in which: l

Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view, partly `broken away,of an noven shell showing one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a detail view of the baille-plate structure of said embodimenttaken along the showing the modified form of Fig. 4;

dotted line 2-2 of Fig. 1, looking in the di-v rection of the arrows;

Fig.l 3 is a viewv similar to the right-handend of Fig. 1, 'showing amodified form of baille-plate construction, 5

Fig. 4 is a detail view similar to F ig;1 2,

Fig. 5'is a detail view of a portion of a chain conveyor and associatedtray 'which maybe conveniently used.;

Referring more particularly to the drawings, in they embodiment shown inFig. 1, there is provided an oven chamber 10 formed by a topwall 11, arear end wall 12, side walls 13, and a bottom wall 14. The top wall 11is somewhat longer than the parallel portion of the bottom wall 14, andthe latter is formed with a downwardly-projecting portion 15, ahorizontal portion 16, and an l upwardly-projecting portion 17 toprovide a 70 depending leg 18V comprising an' extension of thehorizontal oven chamber 10, and forming therewith an inverted h-shapedchamber. At the front of the oven chamber 10, and preferably slightlyspaced from the top wall 11 of the oven shell, is positioned a frontwall 19V which projects downwardly toward the upwardly-extendingprojection 17, an opening 20 being left therebetween suicient to allowloading and unloading of the trays, so as will be hereinafter pointedout. Inside of the oven chamber is positioned a conveyor-member 21which, as shown, is of the single-lap type and passes over a series ofsprocket wheels 22 positioned appropri- 85 ately in the oven chamber,and one ofvwhich is driven by any suitable means, so that the conveyor4moving' in the v direction of the arrows traverses substantially theentire length of the chamber 10 and leg 18f'passing 90. upwardly pastVthe opening 20 rearwardly. along the top portion of the chamber 10, andthence forwardly along the lower portion of said chamber.

The Aheating of the oven chamber may be accomplished in any desiredmanner, but it has been found advantageous to provide heat by means of adouble series of heating units 23 and 24, positioned substantially asshown, and in order that the conditions within the the loaded trayscontaining the dough-units Y are placed onto the conveyor through theopening 2 0 and, after traversing the baking chamber, the baked loavesare removed at the same opening.

' In order that the conditions in the oven may` 20 be properlycontrolled for baking different types of dough stuffs, or for varyingthe conditions during the baking of any particular type of goods, thereis provided near one wall of the oven a gas and vapor outletcommunicating with the `oven at substantially the top thereof and aninterposed baille-platel or curtain; yand there is also provided near asecond wall of the oven, preferably a wall opposite the first wall, asecond gas and vapor outlet communicating with the oven at substantiallythe top thereof. By means of these baille-'plates or curtains thethickness of the layer of\ gas and vapor in the oven and the passage ofthe gas and vapor to said outlets is controlled. The two outlets coactto remove the excess gases without producing in any one part of the ovena large pressure gradient. It is important to obviate this as thepressure gradient gives rise to a temperature gradient (due to thecooling effect of gas expansion) which in time sets up drafts o'fchanging temperature. Uniform constant temperature during any oneportion of the baking period is essential for the production of goods ofpredetermined quality; it being well known to those skilled in the artthat drafts within an oven are to be avoided.

There may be any number of outlets and baille-plates. For example, as isshown in Figs. 1 and 2, there are provided openings 31 and interposedbaiile-plates 32, said baffleplates being formed with a plurality ofopenings 33 which are controlled by any suitable means, such as theadjustable dam er member 34; it being understood that W en all of .saiddamper members are in closed position the entire oven chamber will befilled with gas and vapor, any excess thereof passing downwardly underthe edge of the bafeplates 32 and upwardly through the openings 31; andthat by selectively opening' one or' more of said damper members the vaor may be allowed to escape through said ba e-plate at any desired levelwhereby, if desired, a relatively dry atmosphere may be maintained inthe oven either below the baille 26 or through- I out thel chamber 10. Il

Another form of baie plate which may be used is shown in Figs. 3 and 4,in which a solid baille plate 35 is movable bodily upwardly anddownwardly by means such as the cogs 36, and rack 37' wherebytheposition of the lower edge of the baiile will control the vapor levelin the oven chamber. Also, as will be obvious, a combination of the twoforms of baiileplates may be used, if desired. This modified form ofbaiil'emay be used anywhere in the oven when there is an outlet forgases.

The openings 31 may be connected to any means adapted to effectwithdrawal of the gases.l It is preferred, however, to connect -them toa condenser 38, which may be in- Although for purposes of simplicityonly a single-lap oven of the traveling chain type has been shown in theillustrations herein, it is to be understood that certain of thefeatures of the present invention may, if desired, be applied to othertypes of ovens, such as, for example, to a multiple-lap oven, or to atraveling-plate oven of the turned type. .l If

the oven is sufficient, a leg similar to the leg at the frontend of theoven may' the length of also be provided at the rear end of the ovenwhereby the dough-units may be fed into both ends of a chain-type oven,or by using mechanical loading andlunloading devices, the principles ofthe present invention may be utilized in connection with a travelingplate oven. In either case, the baked loaves may be removed after onetraverse of the chamber 10. In such event, the oven is furtherdistinguished from the ordinary type of traveling oven in that becauseof the downwardlyprojecting legs any tendency toward draft through theoven is minimized.

It will thus be appreciated that by means of the present invention therehas been provided an oven in which the atmosphere V'throughout or in anyportion thereof may be controlled at will, it being possible either toseal in all of the steam and gases, or these gases and vapors or anyportion thereof may be eliminated entirely.

Since certain changes may be made in the above construction anddifferent embodiments of the invention could be made, without departingfrom the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in theabove description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall beinterpreted as illustrative rand not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended tocover all of the generic and speciiic features of the invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which as amatter of language might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

l. In a traveling oven, in combination, a substantiallyhorizontally-disposed baking chamber having a depending leg at one endthereof, a loading opening communicating with said depending leg anddisposed below the. level of the horizontal portion of the bakingchamber, two gas and vapor outlets communicating with said horizontalportion o the baking chamber, one positioned adjacent the end having thedepending leg, the other adjacent the opposite end, and baille meansadapted to be variably interposed between said horizontal portion andsaid gas outlets; said baiile means being adjustable to control thedepth of the gas and vapor atmosphere therein' during baking.

2. In a traveling oven, in combination, a`

substantially horizontally-disposed baking chamber having a dependingleg at one end thereof, a loading opening communicating with ysaiddepending leg and disposed below the level of thevhorizontal portion ofthe baking chamber, two gas and vapor outlets communicating with saidhorizontal portion of the baking chamber, one positioned adjacent theend having the depending leg, the other adjacent the opposite end, andbaiile means adapted to be variably interposed betweeny said horizontalportion and said gas outlet; said batlie means being adapted to beraised and lowered vertically to control the depth of the gas and vaporatmosphere therein during baking.

3. In a traveling oven, in combination, a substantiallyhorizontally-disposed baking chamber havin a depending leg at one endthereof, a loa ing opening communicating with said depending leg andbelow the level of the horizontal portion of the baking chamber, two gasand vapor outlets communieating with said horizontal portion of thebaking chamber, one positioned adjacent the end having the dependingleg, the other adjacent the opposite end, and baille plates interposedbetween said horizontal portion and said gas outlets; said balile plateshaving a series of openings therethrough, and means for selectivelyclosing said openings.Y y

4. In a traveling chain oven, in combination, a substantiallyhorizontally-disposed baking chamber having a depending leg at l one endthereof, a loading opening communicating with said depending leg anddisposed below the level of the horizontal portion of the bakingchamber, a batlie horizontally disposed and dividing said horizontalportion substantially medially, a series of heating elements disposedover said baie, a second series of heating elements disposed along thebottom of said horizontal portion, an endess chain conveyor mounted tocarry dough-pans over each series of heating units and downwardly pastsaid loading opening, two gas outlets communicating with said horizontalportion of the baking chamber, one positioned adjacent the end havingthe depending leg, the other adjacent the opposite end, and baiile meansriably interposed between said horizontal portion and said gas outlets;said baiile means adapted to be vabeing adjustable to control the depthof the gas and vapor atmosphere therein during baking.

In testimony tures.

whereof we aiix our signa- ROBERT L. CORBY. GABE R. FENNEMA.

